High Plains Corporation Colwich Ethanol Facility - Executive Summary

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The major objective of this Risk Management Plan (RMP) is to prevent unwanted releases of hazardous chemicals into locations that could expose employees and the surrounding communities to serious hazards. 
 
This RMP pertains to the High Plains Corporation's Ethanol Facility located in Sedgwick County, Kansas.  The Facility processes corn and sorghum to produce fuel grade ethanol, carbon dioxide, and a high protein cattle feed.  Anhydrous Ammonia is used in the process to adjust and control pH during the initial breakdown of starch to sugar.  Ammonia also provides essential nutrients to the yeast that process sugar to alcohol.  Anhydrous Ammonia is stored at the facility in quantities no greater than 127,500 lbs. 
 
The process design, process technology, process changes, operational and maintenance activities and procedures, non-routine activities and procedures, emergency plans and procedures, training programs, and other elements that effect the process are all considered in this plan.  
Through this plan, we intend to prevent or minimize the consequences of catastrophic releases of toxic chemicals as these releases could result in toxic hazards and cause harm to persons or the environment. 
 
Chemical Safety Statement 
 
High Plains Corporation owns and operates a manufacturing plant converting corn and sorghum grain into fuel ethanol.  At the Colwich Ethanol Facility, safety is a way of life both on and off the job.  Personal injuries can be prevented and no job is so important that it should be performed in an unsafe manner.  Safety at this plant is the responsibility of all employees. 
 
Managers and Supervisors are responsible for the safety of all persons who report to or are assigned to them.  This responsibility is carried out by assuring that a sound Safety Program is in place including designing, maintaining and operating equipment in a safe manner, assuring training and education is completed for safe work methods and establishing and enforcing safe operating and 
maintenance practices and rules. 
 
All employees have a responsibility to safety by learning and observing all safe work rules, methods, practices and procedures and by wearing the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). 
 
High Plains Corporation is intent on being a responsible steward to our neighbors and the environment.  The facility is committed to recycling or recovery of all possible process streams and the mitigation of releases and emissions using best business practices. 
 
Systems, procedures, and methods are in place to prevent the spill or release of any chemical to the environment and to respond and contain any inadvertent or accidental release.  These policies are explained in detail in the Emergency Action Plan and the Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan, including Spill Containment and Countermeasures.  Additional safe work methods and chemical specific data are outlined in the Hazardous Communication Program and the Process Safety Training Manuals. 
 
Informatio 
n pertaining to the Technology of the Process: The below listed information is the minimum amount of information we have acquired: 
 
7 A block flow diagram or simplified process flow diagram 
7 Process chemistry 
7 Maximum intended inventory 
7 An evaluation of the consequences of deviations, including those affecting the safety and health of employees, and the affect on the surrounding communities. 
 
Information pertaining to the Equipment in the Process: The below listed information is the minimum amount of information we have acquired: 
 
7 Materials of construction 
7 Piping and instrument diagrams (P&ID) 
7 Relief system design and design basis 
7 Design codes and standards employed 
7 Material and energy balances 
 
Training program: 
 
Each employee presently involved in operating the process and all employees before being involved in operating a newly assigned process are trained in an overview of the process and in the operating procedures pertinent to this policy.  Our training includes emp 
hasis on the specific safety and health hazards, emergency operations including shutdown, and safe work practices applicable to the employee's job tasks.  Hazard communication training is the beginning of our training program for all employees.  We continue with training programs that inform employees of standard operating procedures, safe work practices, emergency evacuation, safety procedures, routine and non-routine work authorization activities, confined space entry, lockout/tagout, and many other areas as necessary to protect the employee and process.  
 
Our training uses many aspects of current training techniques: these include hands-on, classroom, on-the-job, video programs, written materials and any other technique necessary to provide clear and effective training to our employees.  Employees are fully informed as to the goals and objectives of the training and what is considered acceptable performance for duties they are to perform.  All employees are tested or quizzed to assu 
re their competence and knowledge in each area of training. 
 
Specific training in the operating procedures, control, precautions, pre-startup, mechanical integrity, inspection, testing, quality assurance, hot work permits, management of change, and emergency planning and response is provided for all employees working and involved with highly hazardous chemicals at our facility.   
 
Refresher training shall be provided as determined.  Our procedures are designed to assure that the employee involved understands and adheres to the current operating procedures of the process.  Once training has been completed and the employee is "on the job", there will be an evaluation of the employee's performance. If this evaluation is below acceptable performance levels, we will further train the employee to provide the described results and resolve any deficiency.  This training shall be provided as often as necessary, but in no case will it be less than once every three years. 
 
High Plains is keeping  
records of all training to ascertain that each employee involved in operating a process has received and understood the training.  This record contains the identity of the employee, the dates of training, and the means used to verify that the employee understood the training. 
 
Incident Investigation: 
 
The intent of the High Plains Corp. incident investigation is to identify the underlying causes of these incidents and implement steps to prevent similar events from occurring.  We perform these incident investigations to learn from past experiences and thus avoid repeating past mistakes.  Incidents are events that are sometimes referred to as "near misses," meaning that a serious consequence did not occur, but could have.  For this reason, we intend to investigate all incidents and especially those that resulted in, or could have resulted in a catastrophic release of a highly hazardous chemical in the workplace. 
 
All incident investigations will be promptly documented and shall never be  
initiated later than 24 hours following the incident.  Time is of the essence when performing an incident investigation so that facts do not become confused with the passage of time. 
 
Initiation of the incident report is the responsibility of the supervisor in charge. 
 
Employees in the process area where the incident occurs will be consulted and interviewed.  Their knowledge of the events represents a significant set of facts about the incident that occurred.  The cooperation of employees is essential to an investigation.  The focus of our investigation is to obtain facts, and not to place blame.  The investigation process will clearly deal with all involved individuals in a fair, open, and consistent manner. 
 
The report prepared at the conclusion of the investigation will include the following at a minimum: Date of incident, time and date investigation began, a complete description of the incident, all factors that contributed to the incident, and all recommendations resulting from th 
e investigation. 
 
All resolutions and corrective actions will be documented along with the report findings and recommendations. 
 
The complete report will be reviewed with all affected personnel whose job tasks are relevant to the incident findings and will include contract employees where applicable. 
 
All incident investigation reports and data will be retained for five years and used when performing process hazard analysis, process hazard analysis updates and management of change reviews. 
 
Emergency Planning and Response: 
 
High Plains Corp. has developed an emergency action plan for the facility at Colwich, Kansas. These plans include emergency evacuation as per current OSHA guidelines (29 CFR 1910.38).  All employees are trained regarding their responsibility in this plan when hired and annually thereafter.  Full details of the emergency action plan are maintained in the company safety manual, copies of which are accessible to all employees and contractors. 
 
Annual training and drill 
s are conducted to ensure that our employees are equipped to act promptly and professionally to an emergency. 
 
We also have supplied the local emergency response planning committee with information regarding our hazards, site plan, and facility layout, as well as information pertaining to our worst case and alternative scenarios. 
 
Compliance Audits: 
 
High Plains Corp. will use compliance audits as a technique to gather sufficient facts and information, to verify compliance with current standards.  A team will be used to perform audits of the process safety management system and risk management program.  These audits will be conducted at least every three years to verify that the procedures and practices developed under this program are adequate and are being followed. 
 
Audit team members will be selected on the basis of their experience, knowledge, and training and are familiar with the processes and auditing techniques, practices, and procedures.  Team members will have expertise in p 
rocess engineering and design; process chemistry; instrumentation and computer controls; electrical hazards and classifications; safety and health disciplines; maintenance; emergency preparedness and process safety auditing. The team will compare what is actually done or followed with the written PSM/RMP program. 
 
The audit will include a review of the relevant documentation and process safety information, inspection of the physical facilities, and interviews with plant personnel.  The review will evaluate the written training program for adequacy of content, frequency of training, effectiveness of training in terms of its goals and objectives as well as how it fits into meeting the programs requirements.  Through interviews, the team will determine employee's knowledge and awareness of the safety procedures, duties, rules, and emergency response assignments.  During the inspection, the team will observe actual practices such as safety and health policies, procedures and work authoriza 
tion practices. 
 
The audit team, through systematic analysis, will document areas that require corrective action, as well as where the process safety management and risk management program system is effective.  This will provide a record of the audit procedures and findings and serves as a baseline of operational data for future audits. 
 
Corrective action includes identifying deficiencies, planning follow-up, and documenting the corrections.  Corrective action will begin with a management review of the audit Findings.  The purpose of the management review is to determine what actions are appropriate, and to establish priorities, timetables, resource allocations, requirements, and responsibilities.  In some cases, corrective action may involve only a simple change in procedures or a minor maintenance effort to remedy the problem.  Management of change procedures will be used, as appropriate.  While many of these changes may be minor, some may require engineering studies or more detailed 
review of actual procedures and practices.  All actions taken, including an explanation when no action is taken on a finding will be documented. 
 
Incident History: 
 
High Plains Corporation, Colwich Ethanol Facility has not experienced an uncontrolled release in the past 5 years. Operating procedures and the operator training is an ongoing program. High Plains Corp. also has installed additional excess flow valves to reduce the duration of a release if an incident was to occur.  These Procedures, along with compliance to the Process Safety Management and Risk Management Plans, give us great confidence that the risk of release is low. 
                                                                                                                                                              Release Scenarios 
 
High Plains Corporation analyzed the impact of a worst case scenario and an alternative in compliance with the Risk Management Plan. The EPA approved the model used. 
 
The results o 
f the worst-case model indicated a toxic endpoint of 7.62 miles.  This worst case scenario indicates that a catastrophic release could impact the City of Colwich, Kansas, and/or the Cities of Bently, Andale, Maize and Northwest portions of the Wichita metropolitan area. There are no environmental receptors within the 7.62 mile radius. 
 
The results of the alternative scenario indicated a toxic endpoint was 0.39 miles.  The estimated population within this distance was 26 people.  The primary use of the land in the vicinity is light industrial or agricultural.  There are no environmental receptors within the 0.39 mile radius.
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